William Byron’s efficiency at Darlington Raceway was one not often seen in fashionable NASCAR, completely dominating the vast majority of the race. Byron led each lap in Stage 1 and Stage 2, occurring to steer the primary 243 (of 297 whole) laps, with no single lead change.
The final time a driver led each single lap in a Cup race was Jeff Burton virtually 25 years in the past, however Byron’s likelihood of finishing the NASCAR model of a no-hitter didn’t pan out the way in which he hoped it could.
Regardless of a surprising present of dominance, all it took was one spherical of green-flag pit stops to unravel Byron’s benefit.
Nobody handed him on monitor, however Byron fell again to 3rd as Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell pulled off the ‘undercut’, by the cycle of inexperienced flag pit stops. Now in visitors for the primary time, Byron struggled to make ahead progress. He ended up dropping extra spots to Ryan Blaney and eventual race winner Denny Hamlin, who each had more energizing tires after operating lengthy within the earlier run.
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Picture by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Photographs
A late-race warning paved the way in which for Byron to discover a manner again as much as second, however it was nonetheless a bitter loss after showcasing such dominant pace from the 24 automotive.
“First off, actually happy with my workforce, bringing that degree of effort and preparation, have a automotive like that,” stated Byron. “For us to execute like that, it was wanting prefer it was going to be an ideal race. We had been going to steer each lap. Was actually happy with that.
“These guys could possibly be aggressive on the opposite aspect of the inexperienced flag cycle, we misplaced management there. As soon as we misplaced management, too late within the going to sort of get again up there. Yeah, it sucks. I am certain it’ll sting lots tonight. There’s nonetheless a whole lot of positives. It stings within the second, for certain.”
Byron, who received the season-opening Daytona 500, continues to steer the championship standings with a 49-point benefit over his closest competitors.
Images from Darlington – Race
On this article
Nick DeGroot
NASCAR Cup
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
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